The Editor speaks : Time

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The Editor speaks : Time
Colin Wilson

I was wasting a lot of time pondering
on what I was going to write for my Editorial today until I heard the
minister of the church I attended give a message on time. Basically,
how little time we give to God, when it should be our priority.

No. That is not what I am going to
repeat, even though the minister is correct.

It did set me thinking, however, what
do I do with my time v. what should I do with my time?

The Internet contains an enormous amount of wisdom on Time. I urge you to find time and explore it like I did. here's mine:

1. Slow down. - Hmm. To me, that's
counterproductive. It's not. How many times have we been driving
fast, the radio blaring and we are missing seeing the beautiful
scenery around us. The scenery God provided us with. If you go for a
slow walk, look around you, and see what you've been missing.

2. Are we happy with our free time? Or
are we bored with it? Shouldn't we give ourselves a purpose to pursue
in our free time? It will certainly make us happier than being bored.
It will make us want to be productive.

3. Perhaps we should aim to execute
fewer things? If we do less more time is given to those fewer things.
Those things will be better for it and we will find some pride in
seeing the result.

4. Shouldn't we spend some time on
thinking about what matters most to us? What is it that I care about
the most? My spouse? My parents? My children? My spiritual life/God?

5. Use the 80/20 rule. I confess I
hadn't heard of this until I did my Internet search. The 80/20 rule
says 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. One example
of this is watching television. If you spend only three hours a day
(most spend a LOT more than that – even the average is FOUR) and
you live until you're eighty, you’ll spend 10 years of your life
watching TV! That’s time you’ll never get back, and time you
could have invested into a much higher leverage activity, like
reading a book, having a tea/coffee with someone you want to learn
from, exercising, writing, or meditating (with God). Isn't it time,
therefore to spend more time on activities that produce the greatest
returns on your time.

6. Realize how little time you have.
According to the American Time Use Survey, (based on the average
American) each work day you’ll spend: 7.6 hours sleeping, 8.8 hours
working, 1.1 hours eating, and 1.1 hours doing chores around the
house, leaving you with about five and half hours left over for doing
what you want to do. And these figures don’t include investing time
into your relationships, caring for others, or any other commitments
you have already.

Conclusion: Start with twenty-four
hours and subtract all the things you have to do. What are you left
with?

Ref:
https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/7-ways-make-better-use-your-time.html

I started with religion and it is only
fitting that I end with it. I expect, you will guess what I am going
to end with. Is there anything written that is better? Note: The
Minister, today, did not use or mention it.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 New International
Version (NIV)

A Time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2 a time to be born and a time to
die,

a time to plant and a time to
uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to
heal,

a time to tear down and a time to
build,

4 a time to weep and a time to
laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to
dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a
time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to
refrain from embracing,

6 a time to search and a time to
give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw
away,

7 a time to tear and a time to
mend,

a time to be silent and a time to
speak,

8 a time to love and a time to
hate,

a time for war and a time for
peace.

NIV – New International Bible

Published November 11, 2019

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